The Nature of Sin, 11: Defeated by God
Romans 1:18-20 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
Since I am an early riser, often awake before dawn, I have had many an opportunity to marvel at the beauty of a Colorado sunrise. Every time, I embrace the beauty of God’s creation and wonder at those who claim there is no God. When my wife and I had our Christian school this verse was one I required the high schoolers to memorize because it highlights that God expresses himself through his creation. God’s expression of himself is so obvious one needs only to be partially awake to recognize there is a God. But what does this verse mean when it refers to God’s invisible qualities? Is it just his eternal power or divine nature? Are there others?
One of those other qualities is God’s moral character. We have been talking about sin and its pervasiveness and one might get the idea that there is no hope, and that sin will win out in the end. That is certainly what Satan wants us to believe. Let me ask you—do you know what is right and what is wrong? That is, do you have a moral code? Where did you get it? From Mom and dad you say, but from where did they get it? How far back do we want to take this progression? We all have an ingrained sense of right and wrong—it is part of the image of God in which we each were created. That sense of right and wrong has been codified in Scripture: the Bible has given us the rules to live by which, whether society acknowledges it or not, are what makes our society operate relatively peacefully. Absolute moral laws do exist, e.g. it is never right to murder or commit adultery. God’s moral laws are eternal, unstoppable, and unchangeable and the evidence of this in our heart is our conscience.
So even though God’s moral code has been under attack since the Fall we can be assured that His righteousness will win out over sin. Sin is, after all, nothing more than a violation of God’s moral code in one way or another. But since the Fall God has been teaching his children his ways: his holiness and his righteousness. And since humans can be prideful and defiant, there have been times when judgement has come to correct our sinful ways. But that is good news isn’t it? It means God continues to love us so much that he won’t let us stay in our sin.
Proverbs 10:29 The way of the LORD is a refuge for the blameless, but it is the ruin of those who do evil.
Isaiah 55:8-9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Proverbs 14:12 There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.
So it comes down to this: we have a choice. We can choose to follow God’s ways, or we can choose our own. The problem with choosing our own ways is expressed by Romans 6:23 ‘the wages of sin is death’. That death could be physical, relational, or economic. In any case it is never pleasant. A person will always pay a price at some point when they deviate from God’s ways. You can go that route and pay your price, or you can say, “Lord, I understand there are rules and I understand I’ve been living for me”. This is how God’s moral character defeats sin. As people realize their ways lead only to death, that life becomes much too difficult because of their stubbornness, they will turn back to God’s ways. As they start to walk in ways that line up with their conscience, with their original Godly design, with God’s character and Word, things begin to go better for them.
Our purpose is to glorify our Father, and glorifying God is the most amazing thing a person can do. It’s like a diamond. The diamond has no light of itself. It you put a diamond in a dark room you can’t see it but when you take a diamond out into the light the diamond takes the light from outside and reflects it back. You and I are the diamond. We’re supposed to reflect God’s glory back to Him and to the world and when we live according to our purpose we do just that.
Philippians 2:12-13 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.
Psalm 119:124-128 Deal with your servant according to your love and teach me your decrees. I am your servant; give me discernment that I may understand your statutes. It is time for you to act, LORD; your law is being broken. Because I love your commands more than gold, more than pure gold, and because I consider all your precepts right, I hate every wrong path.
Romans 12:1-2 Beloved friends, what should be our proper response to God’s marvelous mercies? I encourage you to surrender yourselves to God to be his sacred, living sacrifices. And live in holiness, experiencing all that delights his heart. For this becomes your genuine expression of worship. Stop imitating the ideals and opinions of the culture around you but be inwardly transformed by the Holy Spirit through a total reformation of how you think. This will empower you to discern God’s will as you live a beautiful life, satisfying and perfect in his eyes.
All of us are wonderfully made, have precious gifts, and made with a purpose—to further God’s Kingdom. As we begin to learn about those gifts and learn about God’s way our lives will be transformed. It is an exciting time and exciting season. Let’s turn back to God; what a wonderful adventure it will be.
Philippians 1:6 ….being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Isaiah 2:2-3 In the last days the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.”